MBB: Duke 66, UConn 56 Post-Game Thread

[Saratoga2]

Nothing from the bench - that is very disturbing. Grayson, MJ and MPIII played very little and Rasheed had a pretty bad game - 0-4, no points and 5 turnovers. We are going to need more than that from him and our bench in general.

The starting 5 all had very good to excellent games. UCONN has some very good and quick players with Boatright being among the quickest and best guard in the country. We played good defense against them and were most vulnerable when their very good and agressive defense turned us over. Twelve in the first game alone. Jahlil is a problem for everyone to stop but also Amile had an excellent game and I thought Justise plays agressively and stongly. We have very good and dependable starting guards.

Like you, I thought our bench was weak tonight. Rasheed was a major liability out there, he is too likely to turn the ball over against the kind of pressure that UCONN briings. Sheed's defense is better, but he shouldn't be handling the ball and bringing it up. Marshall wasn't at all strong or quick to the ball. It was surprising to see him having the ball taken away. A guy that big who has two hands on the ball should not be having it taken from him. Matt didn't seem to contribute much. Maybe UCONN is just good enough to expose some of our more marginal guys. Grayson got out there and looked like he didn't want to risk making mistakes. Actually, he made less mistakes out there than our other subs, but he also made little impact on the game.

How does coach K get more out of the bench against the better teams? I can think that UVA and Louisville are two that can give us trouble. I really don't have any suggestions. Maybe repetitions will help.

Still it was a 10 point win and against UCONN, which makes it even sweeter.

[sagegrouse]

We kept our poise, and the key players were freshmen. Good, gritty game -- which we needed. Not exactly a typical Duke game -- high rebound totals (40 to 29), mediocre shooting percentage, lots of turnovers but good assist total (10 out of 18 FG's). For this year, a 70+% on free throws is a welcome stat. UConn had only five assists out of 23 FG's, a tribute to the tenacity of our defense.

[Henderson]

Tough, gritty, hard-fought win. Some cold shooting and too many turnovers, but give some credit to UConn. They wanted this game, and our guys wouldn't let 'em have it. Tough group, and they battled through some adversity tonight. I'm happy.

Bring on Toledo!

[FerryFor50]

Just noticed this, but for all the complaining about MP3's play, but he had 2 blocks and an offensive board in just 5 minutes played. Not terrible. Just needs to be ready to catch the ball.

[mgtr]

Jones took one shot. He played 6 minutes. Didn't really get enough time to do much. Not sure why he needs to back off. He's shooting 45% from 3. Cook went 2-7. Should he back off, too?

He's a 3 and D guy. That's what championship teams need.

You are comparing the season for Jones with one game for Cook. If I recall correctly, early in the season Jones was a deadeye, but not so much lately. If it is the end of the game, and I need a 3 pointer, I would prefer Cook to take the shot. Now, if Jones gets his early season form back, and I hope he does, I will be in seventh heaven -- the more great 3 point shooters, the better. If at the end of the game, I need a lock down defender, I would choose Sulaimon or M. Jones.

[FerryFor50]

You are comparing the season for Jones with one game for Cook. If I recall correctly, early in the season Jones was a deadeye, but not so much lately. If it is the end of the game, and I need a 3 pointer, I would prefer Cook to take the shot. Now, if Jones gets his early season form back, and I hope he does, I will be in seventh heaven -- the more great 3 point shooters, the better. If at the end of the game, I need a lock down defender, I would choose Sulaimon or M. Jones.

No, I'm comparing the season for Cook with the season for Jones. Both were deadeye at the start. Both have trailed off the last two games. Cook went 1-6 against Elon. Jones was 0-4. The prior 2 games, Jones took just 1 shot.

If they're wide open, I'm fine with both of them taking that shot. I think you're still stuck on Matt Jones of last season.

[mgtr]

Just noticed this, but for all the complaining about MP3's play, but he had 2 blocks and an offensive board in just 5 minutes played. Not terrible. Just needs to be ready to catch the ball.

So right! And, he is a great three point shooter (100%) and a free throw shooter. So improved from prior years.

[OldPhiKap]

Just noticed this, but for all the complaining about MP3's play, but he had 2 blocks and an offensive board in just 5 minutes played. Not terrible. Just needs to be ready to catch the ball.

To be fair to MP3, a few of those passes should not have been thrown to him. Feeding him as he moves to the low block is a bad pass; let him get low and then throw it in. A forward he ain't.

[-bdbd]

Sloppy game for sure.
Amile was awesome.
Okafor was Okafor.
The 3 by Winslow was the nail.
We hit the foul shots at a pace that kept them at bay.
Have a nice break guys!
Come back refreshed for the drive to 1000!

Spot on. This was an ugly game (and Calhoun even mentioned that U-con WANTED it that way).
Amile was the star, and for once I liked the commentary talking about how he's really learned well how to play off of the ball, off of Okafor's double-teams. That ability is probably going to win us some key games in Feb. and March.
I really agree that Winslow's three was the dagger, but his tip-in of Okafor's missed FT (what was up with that U-con player along the lane next to him reaching out and clapping loud at Okafor while he shot?!) was another dagger at a key time. He doesn't do that, and U-con has the ball after two missed Duke FT's and only down 3 or 5 I think.
We shot FT's better than normal, though they seemed to tire (and miss a bunch late). Concentration?

Was it just me or didn't it seem that the U-con crowd was louder than the Duke one, even though the commentators said the stadium was 50-50?

** Watching the game, I was bumming that we weren't drubbing the Huskies - I really, really dislike that team/school, and love that they openly have pined for ACC membership (and the ACC said, "Talk to the hand"). But in the end, it dawned on me -- this way it is actually better. You KNOW that all their fans are talking about on their boards and during the long, slow drive back to CT is, "Duke gets all the calls." It probabably gnaws at them even more than if we'd won by 20. HEHEHEHEHEHE!!

[FerryFor50]

To be fair to MP3, a few of those passes should not have been thrown to him. Feeding him as he moves to the low block is a bad pass; let him get low and then throw it in. A forward he ain't.

Oh I agree. Sheed's pass was a bail out. Winslow's pass was... eh?

But he still needs to always be ready. The Sheed pass could have been a monster dunk had he been ready!

[Henderson]

To be fair to MP3, a few of those passes should not have been thrown to him. Feeding him as he moves to the low block is a bad pass; let him get low and then throw it in. A forward he ain't.

Another way to put that is, "Don't expect him to catch those, because he doesn't have the hands to catch them." I dunno if that makes the pass a bad one or his hands the problem. Guess it doesn't matter. But many post players can do it.

[FerryFor50]

From ESPN Stats Twitter feed:

UConn and Duke bench players combined for 2 pts on 1-14 FG tonight. That's the fewest combined bench points in a D-I game this season.

Also:

This is the first time that Duke has started 10-0 under Coach K with all 10 wins coming by double figures.

[Danke Shane]

In all the years I've watched college basketball, I can't ever remember a player standing along the lane during free throws CLAPPING directly at the shooter. And he was the player closest to Oakafor no less. Thought that was bush league.

[CajunDevil]

We made plays down the stretch. Justise's tip-in, his steal at the other end and then his three was crucial. The only way UCONN had a chance tonight, given their offensive limitations, was to make this game ugly. They did that, yet our guys persevered. Good win against a hungry, almost desperate, defending Nat'l Champs on a neutral court by double digits.I look forward to seeing this team play 2-3 games per week before I have the slightest concern about our bench play.

[mr. synellinden]

And they still won by 10 points. Bench was bad tonight but they've been good most of the year.

Against an unranked team that lost to Yale at home.

I actually thought UConn looked like a top 20 team tonight. And our starters were outstanding. I'm just concerned about the depth over the course of the season, which I thought would be a strength for this team.

[Ultrarunner]

Just noticed this, but for all the complaining about MP3's play, but he had 2 blocks and an offensive board in just 5 minutes played. Not terrible. Just needs to be ready to catch the ball.

I think you hit the issue with Marshall - he's not ready to catch the ball since no one has bothered to toss it to him for three years. Now that the team is getting use to feeding the post players. I expect Marshall will make the adjustment pretty quickly.

[OldPhiKap]

Another way to put that is, "Don't expect him to catch those, because he doesn't have the hands to catch them." I dunno if that makes the pass a bad one or his hands the problem. Guess it doesn't matter. But many post players can do it.

Most 7 footers cannot catch the ball moving down the lane cleanly without traveling. The passer needs to know where to get a player the ball. Let him get into position on the blocks where he has the advantage, not in a position where a turnover is likely.

Even if we take the view that MP3 doesn't have that in his arsenal but others do -- he doesn't, so don't feed him there.

Passing is not just finding someone open, it's finding an open player in a positive situation.

[Dukehky]

In all the years I've watched college basketball, I can't ever remember a player standing along the lane during free throws CLAPPING directly at the shooter. And he was the player closest to Oakafor no less. Thought that was bush league.

Busch* League

And I agree. I've seen it before though, and in the early 90s every Duke player used to put his hands up while the other player shot free throws. I don't know why they did it but it is fairly distracting, so I don't have a huge huge problem with it. In the last minute, Purvis was really being a punk while trying to guard Tyus. He hit him in the face repeatedly. If Kevin Ollie isn't careful, his face is going to get stuck like that.

[FerryFor50]

In the last minute, Purvis was really being a punk while trying to guard Tyus. He hit him in the face repeatedly. If Kevin Ollie isn't careful, his face is going to get stuck like that.

Yea the Purvis stuff was uncalled for. I could see him trying to get in Jones' head if he did it early in the game. But he was doing that when the game was pretty much out of hand. Punk move.

[azzefkram]

To be fair to MP3, a few of those passes should not have been thrown to him. Feeding him as he moves to the low block is a bad pass; let him get low and then throw it in. A forward he ain't.

Couldn't agree more. Justise's pass was behind MP3 as he was moving toward the basket and Sheed's was at his waist in traffic as he getting in position for a board. MP3 does need to grasp the ball better but those weren't great passes.